Classic, Vintage and Veteran Car Repairs
Due to vast amount of engineering and mechanical experience at Direct Autos, we are often asked to repair and maintain older vehicles. Whether they're Classics, Vintage or even Veteran you can rest assured that we'll do our best to help.
Classic Cars
All cars first registered before 1 January 1973 are free from paying the annual vehicle excise duty in the UK and although there is no formal definition of a classic car in this country, this is the date which is often considered to be the cutoff point. As a blanket term anything built before this could be said to be a classic but there are other definitions for the older models.
Vintage Cars
A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930. There is little debate about the start date of the Vintage period — the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there — but the end date is a matter of a little more debate.
The British definition is strict about 1930 being the cut-off, while some American sources prefer 1925 since it is the pre-classic car period as defined by the Classic Car Club of America. Others see the Classic period as overlapping the Vintage period, especially since the Vintage designation covers all vehicles produced in the period while the official Classic definition does not, only including high-end vehicles of the period. Some consider the start of World War II to be the end date of the Vintage period.
Veteran Cars
In the United Kingdom, this era is split into two periods:
- Pre-1905 vehicles are veteran cars.
- 1905–1918 vehicles are Edwardian cars.
Such very old vehicles present special challenges to today's collectors. Replacement parts must nearly always be handmade and basic documentation such as wiring diagrams and specification sheets are often nonexistent.
Beautiful examples of British Automotive history,
an Austin Chummy (left) and a 1924 Vauxhall.
Just a couple of the older models we're proud to maintain at Direct Autos.